Fantastic Year

What a fantastic year this has become to the portuguese sailing entusiasts.
We are having some of the best races and sailing events in the world:

VOLVO OCEAN RACE, with one of the most competitive legs ever that happened to finish in Lisbon.

 Team Camper also had an whale collision avoidance when on route to Lisbon!

 

 TALL SHIPS RACES which will have a have a venue, again in Lisbon, from the 19th till 22nd July.

EXTREME SAILING SERIES

Act 4 of the Extreme Sailing Series 2012 will be staged between the 5th to 8th July, making its debut in Portugal, this time in the city of Porto.
Eight teams with 40 of the world ́s best sailors from 9 nationalities will line up on the starting grid for four days of intense competition.

ENDEAVOUR

Yes, we can find Endeavour right now in the Tejo River, in Lisbon.

Endeavour is a 130-foot (40 m) J-class yacht built for the 1934 America's Cup by Camper and Nicholson in England. She was built for Thomas Sopwith who used his aviation design expertise to ensure the yacht was the most advanced of its day with a steel hull and mast. She was launched in 1934 and won many races in her first season. She failed in her America's Cup challenge against the American defender Rainbow but came closer to lifting the cup than any other until Australia II succeeded in 1983. Source: Wikipedia

2012 OLYMPICS

Portugal will be represented by 13 sailing athletes, competing in some diferent classes like the 49ers, Laser, 470, Sailboard, Laser Radial, Star and Elliott 6m.

FRANCISCO LOBATO

Of course we are also following the La Solitaire du Figaro 2012 where our only professional single-handed sailor is competing right now. Força Francisco!
Here some footage from 2011.

Largest Sailing Regatta

The largest sailing regatta of a single class was achieved by 1,055 participants during an event organised by Fraglia Vela Riva (Italy), in Riva Del Garda, Italy, on 6 April 2012.

The sailing boat for the record was the Optimist, a small, single-handed sailing dinghy intended for use by children up to the age of 15.

Youngsters aged from the age of 9 to14 years old, coming from 27 different countries took place in the regatta. Naturally Italy has the largest representation with 332 entrants followed by Germany with 235 and Denmark 69. Others have come from as far away as Australia, Bermuda and The U.S. with 22 participants.

Source: Guiness Book of Records